Search the Dictionary

A genus of shrubs and trees, mostly American or Asiatic, abounding in resinous and aromatic substances. Styrax officinalis yields storax, and S. Benzoin yields benzoin.

the more compact sonata, consisting of a string or series of pieces all in the same key, mostly in various dance rhythms, with sometimes an elaborate prelude. Some composers of the present day affect the suite form.

Southern Asia and Borneo. It has a small head and short neck, and fine short glossy fur, mostly black, but brownish on the nose. It is easily tamed. Called also bruang, and Malayan bear. -- Sun beetle (Zoöl.), any small lustrous beetle of the genus Amara. -- Sun bittern (Zoöl.), a singular South American bird (Euryp…

A genus of leguminous shrubby plants and herbs, mostly found in tropical countries, a few herbaceous species being North American. The foliage is often ashy-pubescent, whence the name.

A name given to many umbrella-shaped fungi, mostly of the genus Agaricus. The species are almost numberless. They grow on decaying organic matter.

aving a color like that aof a toroise's shell, black with white and orange spots; -- used mostly to describe cats of that color. n.

er Silurian system of America; -- so named from Trenton Falls, in New York. The rocks are mostly limestones, and the period is divided into the Trenton, Utica, and Cincinnati epochs. See the Chart of Geology.

ossing each other, beaked at the extremities, and supported by a wooden pillar. It is now mostly disused. [Scot.] Jamieson. Trone stone, a weight equivalent to nineteen and a half pounds. [Scot.] -- Trone weight, a weight formerly used in Scotland, in which a pound varied from 21 to 28 ounces avoirdupois.…

cies of oceanic belonging to the genus Phaëthon, found chiefly in tropical seas. They are mostly white, and have two central tail feathers very long and slender. The yellow-billed tropic bird. Phaëthon flavirostris (called also boatswain), is found on the Atlantic coast of America, and is common at the Bermudas, where…

lack turnstone, the California turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala). The adult in summer is mostly black, except some white streaks on the chest and forehead, and two white loral spots.

An inseparable prefix, or particle, signifying not; in-; non-. In- is prefixed mostly to words of Latin origin, or else to words formed by Latin suffixes; un- is of much wider application, and is attached at will to almost any adjective, or participle used adjectively, or adverb, from which it may be desired to form a…

possession; a thing of value, especially a small thing, as an article of jewelry; -- used mostly in the plural. The food and valuables they offer to the gods. Tylor.

An infective sore mostly on the hands and feet, often contracted in walking on the veldt and apparently due to a specific microörganism.

Any plant of the natural order Elatineæ, consisting of two genera (Elatine, and Bergia), mostly small annual herbs growing in the edges of ponds. Some have a peppery or acrid taste.

r boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to dive and swim rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle.…

especially the common species (P. ursinus). They are nocturnal in their habits, and feed mostly on roots.

of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds.

ous tuber of various climbing plants of the genus Dioscorea; also, the plants themselves. Mostly natives of warm climates. The plants have netted-veined, petioled leaves, and pods with three broad wings. The commonest species is D. sativa, but several others are cultivated. Chinese yam, a plant (Dioscorea Batatas) with…

A genus of Actinaria, including numerous species, found mostly in tropical seas. The zooids or polyps resemble small, elongated actinias united together at their bases by fleshy stolons, and thus forming extensive groups. The tentacles are small and bright colored.